Chapter 1798: Chapter 1797: Speech Before the Glorious Palace
"Is that the Glorious Palace?"
Standing in the long procession escorting the coffin, the young man looked up, gazing at the resplendent palace ahead.
"It should be."
Dest, who stood in front of the young man, also looked up, observing the magnificent palace and the huge statue standing before it.
"Whose statue is that, so tall? Christos? Do so many people in Dawn City like him? To erect such a large statue at the entrance of the Glorious Palace?" the young man remarked in some amazement.
"That’s not Christos; it’s the first mayor of Dawn City," a man in black beside them spoke slowly, "But indeed, people in Dawn City like Christos very much."
"Ellenska, the first mayor of Dawn City?" Dest, hearing this, looked up again at the massive statue with some suspicion.
"Yes." The man in black nodded quickly, then he looked ahead and slowly walked forward, blocking the entire procession.
Some staff in Glorious Palace security uniforms came over and began guiding the procession to their designated places.
It was then that the young man in the middle of the procession noticed that they had arrived at a vast square, where shimmering symbols were projected on the ground.
They seemed to be some sort of markers, as staff were guiding each coffin to stop beside these symbols.
The people around, who were slightly restless, began to grow quiet upon witnessing this scene.
As the slender coffins spread across the square, a solemn and dignified atmosphere began to permeate the area.
The young man looked up, gazing forward as robots were assembling rapidly at the front of the square, beneath the massive statue, constructing a makeshift podium.
Meanwhile, around the square, yellow barricades were being unfurled by staff, separating those who came to mourn and clearing a more spacious area in the center of the square.
"Was this all prepared in advance?" After blocking the procession, the man in black returned to the accompanying crowd, and Dest softly asked, observing the workers.
"No," the man in black shook his head, "I just received the orders recently; these were all prepared on the spot."
"Prepared on the spot?" Dest paused for a moment, glancing at the orderly staff and the cooperating crowd, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes. "Such high efficiency, Dawn City’s residents must really respect Christos."
"How can you tell?" The man in black, somewhat surprised, looked at Dest. "The staff are from the Glorious Palace’s security force; they are indeed well-trained, but how can you tell these residents respect Christos?"
"Look at those people," Dest pointed towards those retreating behind the barricades, "even before the barricades arrived, these citizens of Dawn City were voluntarily cooperating and stepping back, maintaining order without much enforcement."
"Does this show the high ethical standards of Dawn City’s residents?" the man in black pondered.
"Partly," Dest nodded slightly, continuing, "but more so, it shows that their leader is either authoritative, respected, or perhaps their leader is exceptionally ruthless, using severe penalties to make people comply with his regulations, or perhaps the leader is exceptionally respected, making people voluntarily cooperate with his actions."
He turned to the man in black, "Which do you think it is?"
"Definitely the respected kind," the man in black nodded slightly, looking up at the retreating crowd, a hint of admiration in his voice, "I now somewhat understand what you mean."
"Christos truly is a good leader," Dest remarked with a touch of reverence, his eyes deep and contemplative.
Drip—
Just then, a drop of water fell on his cheek.
He looked up at the sky, "It’s raining."
The man in black beside him also looked up at the sky.
The sky, already sullen, was covered with thick clouds, with raindrops drizzling down, densely falling from the firmament.
In the crowd outside, some people also looked up, watching the rapping raindrops.
Those with umbrellas quickly opened them overhead, while others attempted to use their clothing to shield their heads from the raindrops.
The crowd became slightly agitated.
Buzz—
The whirring sound of a drone cut through the dim rain curtain, pulling along from its rear a massive rain tarp.
Clank—
Robotic construction units, somehow already at the edge of the barricades, extended slender retractable poles, holding them up to the sky.
In front, drones hooked the leading edge of the rain tarp onto the poles, with the rear secured to the building behind.
In an incredibly short time, pieces of rain tarp, like giant opened umbrellas, blocked the rain falling from the sky, covering the sections of the crowd gathered in the square.
"This—" Dest looked up, dumbfounded at the whole scene.
"What’s the matter?" The man in black turned his head to glance at Dest, then looked at the rain tarp, "The efficiency is indeed quite high."
"I haven’t seen anything like this in other cities," Dest thought for a moment, looking at the nearby construction robots, speaking slowly, "The technology is mature but rarely do politicians provide such protection for their constituents."
"Perhaps due to cost and safety considerations," the man in black shook his head, "Dawn City also didn’t have these initially, gradually adopting them."
As they spoke, several staff members approached and handed out umbrellas to those in the escort procession.
The man in black opened an umbrella, holding it over his head, exchanged a few words with the staff, then turned to Dest, "We also have our assigned spots. I’ll guide you there."
Saying this, he lifted his hand, leading the group towards the rear.
Following their steps, Dest turned to look at the crowd on either side.
Under the sudden onslaught of wind and rain, the broad rain tarps gently billowed, with drones swiftly moving, setting up frames to construct simple shelters.
And as the rain tarps were hoisted, the previously slightly noisy crowd quieted down, the canopy bracing against the wind, the undulating sound becoming the only prominent noise beneath the gloomy sky.
And under the rain canopy, those standing people were raising their heads to look forward to the side.
Dest also turned his head to look in the direction those people were looking at.
A man in a silver suit slowly walked out from behind the statue and stepped onto the newly constructed podium.
People gazed at that figure, but did not act excessively excitedly, perhaps due to the staff’s deterrence, or maybe due to a familiar restraint, they watched the figure and saw him slowly ascend the podium.
Swoosh—
The wind whipped the rain cloth, producing the only fierce sound under this dim sky.
When the man in black accompanied Dest to their special area at the rear, the man in the silver suit also arrived at the podium.
A temporary rain canopy was already set up on the podium, standing beside the coffin placed on the ground, were staff guiding these coffins, holding black, solemn umbrellas.
The man in the silver suit stood in front of the podium with a somber expression, a giant projection screen unfurled behind him, casting his figure onto the massive screen.
He looked at the black coffins below, paused, and then hoarsely said, "Please join me in a three-minute silence."
His voice, transmitted by loudspeakers hidden around the square, resonated in everyone’s ears.
The square quieted down instantly, the little commotion that existed ceased abruptly.
The crowd’s gaze shifted to the coffins below, no one spoke, this expansive square was extraordinarily quiet at this moment, as quiet as fallen needles could be heard.
Dest did not speak either, he just quietly watched the man in the silver suit, gazing at the black coffins on the ground.
After what seemed like an unusually long wait, the man in the silver suit raised his head and looked towards the crowd, "Alright, thank you all for your silence."
"I believe everyone has such a question in their heart," the man in the silver suit glanced down, scanning those faces in the rain, he paused for a moment at the spot where Dest and others stood, but quickly swept over to the people on the other side.
Finally, he withdrew his gaze, "Wondering why I brought the bodies of these young people here, wondering why I gathered everyone here, in fact."
He paused his tone slightly, "Tonight, more people came here than I imagined."
His gaze turned downward, looking at each of the black coffins below, "These handsome lads, beautiful girls, are lying here, most of them are only in their twenties, the oldest is only thirty-seven, averaging under thirty years old, a time full of fantasies and futures.
"They come from all around, not just from Dawn City, there are also from Vitland, Western Federation, Central Federation, Northern Federation, they gathered at Ains from every place of the Federation.
"For the past two days, I’ve been reviewing news related to the parade in Ains,"
His hands were placed on both sides of the podium, his voice slightly raised, "Many people describe that parade as riots, chaos, mad impact, a challenge to Federation order.
"Yet now, the consortiums hit by the ’riots’ are perfectly fine.
"And the organizers who caused these ’riots’ are lying here, lying in the black coffins.
"If you were to uncover the coffins, what you’d see wouldn’t be intact bodies, but a chaotic mass of flesh.
"There are more than forty coffins here, they are the youth who died in the event, but they are not all."
He raised his head and looked at the people below, "Not only in Ains, but also in Vitland, Ankse, Alsan, on the West Coast of the Federation, in the Southern and Northern Lands, there exist many who died."
"Their greatest ’sin’ is inciting what many media call ’riots’, even though these ’riots’ were marches that were permitted and approved.
"We all know, media possess a special power, they control our eyes and ears, shoving into our perception what they want us to know.
"They can turn black into white, white into black, lies into truth, truth into lies.
"I’ve always understood these, I believe everyone standing here does too,"
The man shifted his gaze towards the people, "But when I see them depicting straightforward youths as murderous thugs, I still feel an unbearable anger."
The immersed crowd below, slightly grew uneasy.
And the man on the podium in the silver suit placed his hands on the podium and continued to speak slowly, "Actually, we all know, throughout a long period, we maintained silence.
"But we cannot stay silent forever.
"I believe everyone still wonders, wonder why I held such a grand ceremony for these youngsters whose identities mostly aren’t even from Dawn.
"Because in essence, they have the same experiences as ours, they have stories like ours,
"Outside Dawn City, in the corners of the Federation, similar stories continue to repeat.
"And precisely because of this, these young people from all directions gather at Ains, trying to change the Federation, change this world.
"Some people in Ains may consider their actions radical, but in fact, they are already mild enough."
The man in the silver suit calmly looked at the people below, slightly raising his tone, "When silent silence becomes the norm, a softly sung hum would be seen as radical, needing to be silenced, suffocated in this darkness.
"Those putting their hands on our throat hope we can remain in this extended silence, just like the hundreds of assassination attempts I’ve experienced since becoming mayor.
"Once someone tries to open their mouth, they face the most violent attacks.
"But people, inevitably want to open their mouths, the long silence ultimately awaits only death."
He raised his head, looking at everyone below, "At this moment, the consortium’s Mercenary Corps has surrounded the entire city, and our silence also shrouds under this sky.
"Death has already reached our feet.
"No one can intimidate us with death, in eight hundred years, Dawn City has never feared war and death, even in the dark catastrophic times, Dawn City remained the forefront resisting exotic beasts and the Evil God."
He grasped both sides of the podium, his voice gradually amplified,
"And now, during this extended silence, the era’s choice returns to our hands."
